OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Persicaria pensylvanica   FAMILY Polygonaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygonum pensylvanicum   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5 (2005)

Persicaria pensylvanica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 063-04-008:

Polygonum pensylvanicum   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Persicaria pensylvanica

 

COMMON NAME:
Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_pepe19_001_lvd

        

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970    swus_page_125

        

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

Keith Bradley    kab_p_pensylvanica_73138

March    Miami-Dade County    FL

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

Keith Bradley    kab_p_pensylvanica_73140

March    Miami-Dade County    FL

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm0308m_01

August    Greenville County    SC

An erect, branching annual to 4' tall., per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140804_333

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140804_334

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140804_335

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140804_338

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140822_838

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Ocrea 5-20mm, chartaceous, base inflated, glabrous or appressed-pubescent, per Flora of North America.

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140822_842

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Upper stem has numerous hairlike glands, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140822_842b

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Outer tepals with inconspicuous and irregularly-forking veins; tepals 5, per Weakley's Flora (2012).

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140829_115

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

P. pensylvanica on the left; P. lapathifolia on the right.

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140829_120

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Ocreae not ciliate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE ocreae of Jumpseed and Smartweed species

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140829_121

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Leaves up to 5" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

Gill Newberry    gn09_p_persicaria_pen_clo

September        

Rather tight, erect cylindric racemes, 1-2" long and 0.5" wide, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

Gill Newberry    gn09_p_persicaria_pennsyl

September        

Stems have a tendency to zigzag between the alternate leaves, per www.illinoiswildflowers.info.

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm140924_950

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm180918_4788

September    Greenville County    SC

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

JK Marlow    jkm180918_4790

September    Greenville County    SC

image of Persicaria pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Smartweed, Pinkweed, Common Smartweed

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_p_pensylvanicum

September        

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Persicaria pensylvanica   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygonum pensylvanicum   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5
Persicaria pensylvanica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 063-04-008:
Polygonum pensylvanicum   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Persicaria pensylvanica

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1123

Forb
Annual

Habitat: Disturbed areas, bottomlands, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems, petioles and leaves unarmed

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Pink (rarely white)
5-parted calyx
Petals absent
Superior ovary
Bisexual

Inflorescence spikelike, uninterrupted

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Brown/Blackish
Nutlet

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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